Petes defeat the the Bulls 7-4

PETERBOROUGH -- The Peterborough Petes received some timely scoring from seven different players, as they defeated the Belleville Bulls 7-4 in OHL preseason play Thursday (Sept. 5) at the Peterborough Memorial Centre.
The Petes came out hot, scoring three-straight goals in the first.
Cameron Lizote took a pass at the point from Eric Boudreau and fired a shot on net, where Stephen Nosad was left all alone and banged home the rebound.
Then it was Nick Ritchie getting things done on the short-man, winning a race to the puck along the sideboards, going in all-alone and sliding one short-side.
Then it was forward Steven Lorentz tucking a rebound under the crossbar to put the Petes up 3-0 with assists to Steven Varga and Chase Hatcher.
Belleville got on the board as Aaron Berisha finished off a two-on-one opportunity, taking a pass from Jake Marchment and beating Petes starter Matt Robson.
This was Robson’s first start since taking a skate in the neck during Petes training camp which required seven stitches.
The Petes seemed to pick up where they left off in the second, scoring three-straight goals.
Cody Thompson had the highlight of the night, taking a chip pass from Nelson Armstrong, and snapping a wrist-shot, top corner, from the slot.
The Petes looked dialed in tonight, going tic-tac-toe on the power-play, as Eric Cornell capped off a three-on-one passing play from Nosad and Ritchie.
Matthew Spencer forced a turnover at the Petes blue line and rushed the puck down the ice, beating his man on the outside and sliding a pass to Jonathan Tanus, who scored the Petes second shorthanded goal of the game.
The Bulls got one back on the power-play as Jake Bricknell scored, from Michael Cramarossi and Daniel DeSousa.
With a four-goal lead, the Petes seemed to fall back on its heels in the third period, as the Bulls scored two-straight goals to narrow the gap to 6-4.
But with the Bulls goalie on the bench, Neslon Armstrong iced it for the Petes, scoring in the open net from the Petes end.
With the win, the Petes improve to 2-1 in preseason play and with just three-games remaining before the start of the regular season the Petes still have some cuts to make.
Following the game, Petes GM Mike Oke and Jody Hull reassigned three players including goaltender Matt Robson and Bryan Hignett, who are expected to report to Petes affiliate Lindsay Muskies, making them both available for call-up, while the team also released forward Eric Boudreau, allowing him to pursue options else where.
The Petes have 31 players remaining on its roster and six of those are away at NHL rookie camps, including: Connor Boland (Buffalo Sabres), Greg Betzold, (St. Louis Blues), Stephen Pierog (Carolina Hurricanes), Clark Seymour, (Pittsburgh Penguins), Michael Clarke (Colarado Avalanche), Matej Paulovic (Dallas Stars) and Derek Mathers (Philadelphia Flyers). Mathers signed an entry level contract and is expected to play with the Adirondack Flyers in the American Hockey League.
The Petes next preseason game at home is next Thursday (Sept. 12) when they host the North Bay Battalion, 7 p.m. at the Peterborough Memorial Centre.